Spruce up your home with African décor

Just a shift of your sofa set from one position to another can make a whole lot of difference in the overall look of your sitting room. It is these small changes that when added up create a wow factor in your decor and make your home look heavenly.
Exploring the idea of getting back to our roots where we are proud to say that we are not limited in eye catching items, adding an African touch to your decor is worth the effort. Dennis Ssewanyana of Sewi Arts and Peter Tribes Mafabi of Peter Tribes Mafabi studios, share with us ideas on how to make our homes beautiful with African décor.

Wall hangings
Africa is so rich in culture and it is from this that we get inspirations for the painted wall hangings. For example sunsets, community activity and the like.

African woman
The pillar of most African societies is the woman and one of the ways we celebrate her and her contribution to society is through paintings. That could be of her in African attire and accessories, at work, nursing babies and the like. Such paintings will greatly accentuate your home

Abstract pieces
Such art is imaginative in nature. To capitalize on our African heritage, one may get abstract paintings of sunsets, lions in a park and the like.

Realism pieces
These are art pieces that artists will draw to portray a subject of choice in its realness without adding anything outside what they see. Our focus in this case is on wildlife animals, and given the fact that we are endowed with lots of these, it would be a loss not to add these magnificent beings in our decor.

Box-framed paintings
These can have whatever African oriented painting you desire but their frame is in form of a box. These hand designed box frames can also contain mini-sculptures; the options are amazing.

Mosaic pictures
Such pictures are created by gluing pieces that have been cut out of paper or canvas to fit into the outline of the picture. You may use small pieces of newspaper papers to create an African woman, a zebra, or any other image. The pictures will add glam to your sitting or dining area.

Wall papers
Wall papers with an African touch.While these are not sold in most African shops around town, they can be found in interior decor shops.

Murals
These are artwork pieces that may be painted or directly applied using say, mortar on walls, ceilings or any permanent surface of your choice. In this case, we look at putting African oriented murals of say, children playing, wildlife feeding, and women at the well on walls. The choices are varied and they will definitely spice up your home.

Sculptures
There are two types of sculptures;
For the 2D sculpture, it is created using sand alongside a palette knife on the wall. You can also have a standing sculpture, also referred to as a 3D sculpture in your compound.

Fountains
These can have several elements such as people going to the well, to portray the kind of life lived in Africa. Such will accentuate your compound immensely.
Portraits; they could be family portraits or a portrait of someone dear to you with an African touch of say, African print to lace the frame.
Clocks; to make them African, we customize them, for example, carving them out of wood with African elements on the circumference of the circle.

African print material
This adds a burst of colour to your home without trying too much. The types are varied so your choice is not limited at all. This material can be used on curtains, say at the seams, on tables as table runners, table dressings, and can also be used to make cushion covers, not to mention framing the material as a wall hanging. The things that can be made out of these materials are innumerable; the choice is yours.

Furniture
The elements within the room are part of the decor and speak volumes about how any additions will turn out. Therefore, going for African furniture is one way of decorating your home the African way. You may choose to have some African elements; wildlife chiselled into the furniture to cement the African aspect. Besides being beautiful, African furniture is strong, long lasting and unique.

Ornaments
When well used, these add class and adventure to the spirit of the house. They include, African masks, stones, shells, horns whose decorative purposes are undeniable.